The BJP and the BJD have jointly nominated an associate of a Rs 2-crore mining scam kingpin in the State to the Rajya Sabha, alleged former Union Minister Srikant Jena on Monday.
A Union Minister on Sunday said this is due to an “open pact” between the BJP and the BJD. Don’t the people of the State have a right to know about this “open pact”, he questioned.
Jena said that in the last elections, the BJP had repeatedly said that if it come to power it would send the mining mafias to jail and confiscate their properties. But, instead, sending them to the Rajya Sabha is sheer betrayal of the people, he stated.
How would BJP and BJD workers face the people on this issue, he questioned. But there is a brotherhood feeling among the two parties. Odia people tolerate everything and don’t protest, he remarked.
“I have earlier said that the leaderships in Delhi and the State in partnership with the mining mafia are looting the State. Now, that has been proved,” Jena said.
